Enfant terribleJean Paul Gaultier just reaffirmed his position as one of the industry’s most distinctive voices thanks to his Jean Paul Gaultier Couture spring/summer 2017 runway show that, above all, was all about the scents, nostalgic recollections and shades that come to mind whenever we think of spring and summertime.

The Jean Paul Gaultier Couture spring 2017 collection could be, in fact, effortlessly regarded as a joyful ode to spring and summer, refined by the French designer with empowering accents of freedom and overall light heartedness that, as a whole, infused the runway show with a coherent sense of continuity.

Although being extremely variegated and rich in its color palette, Jean Paul Gaultier’s take on the couture season is a familiarly new one, with standard seductive motifs being intertwined with fresher patterns throughout the collection.

With a burst of bright colors that abruptly lightened up Paris Fashion Week, the collection alternates, for example, sensual plunging side and front slits with edgy off-the-shoulder necklines and even Nehru collars, sharing several enlightening points of views on the current fashion realities and trends.

Gaultier, who shut down his ready-to-wear line less than three years ago, sort of revisited its major patterns with this latest couture collection of his, proving high-end silhouettes can always go hand in hand with both more jocose and risqué patterns. As for the latter, which are always inevitably guaranteed whenever it comes to Gaultier, the designer transposed them to the runway show through one of the collection’s absolute protagonists, flowers.

While the line-up’s most conventionally spring-inspired part was all about multi-colored floral patterns, its most sensually captivating side translated such designs to see-through lace embroideries, mostly utilized to accentuate exotic garments in curve-hugging shapes. Slightly standard bondage-inspired lace-up detailing and bustiers are, of course, to be found too in this collection’s sexier part as, no matter what happens, we all know Jean Paul Gaultier will never miss a chance to remind us of the reason behind his terrible nickname.

Last but not least, it is indeed worth mentioning how Jean Paul Gaultier skillfully managed to focus on other two themes in this couture spring 2017 collection, yet without making them look of secondary importance.

While on the one hand we have steam-punk, futuristic-Victorian-inspired garments, with hourglass figures being one of the designer’s most revisited silhouettes, on the other we get retro-futuristic urban-chic ensembles, such as capes, bustiers and oversized belts that, thanks to Gaultier’s undeniable artisanal skills, look like pieces a Greek goddess would wear if born in the XXI century (or were she a punk rock queen during the Eighties!).

With a strong passion for foreign cultures, contemporary art and fashion, Virginia is an enthusiastic editor and translator. When she is not writing, she likes to read books and eat chocolate (at the same time). She also likes to take too many pictures and collect too many comics.